German development finance institutions KfW Ipex-Bank and DEG have broadened their network of regional offices to include a shared location in Bogotá.

The move adds to the existing South American presence of both institutions, which are subsidiaries of KfW Group, a state-owned investment and development bank.

The Colombian office will enable KfW Ipex-Bank to analyse local markets and identify potential new business, as well as support the bank’s activities in Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia. Its focus areas include financing infrastructure, raw materials and renewable energies.

Heading up the representative office is Frank Breitenbach, who previously worked for the bank in Frankfurt, where he was responsible for overseeing infrastructure, ports and airports projects in Latin America.

“The Andean region represents a key future market in which we help German and European investors and exporters to pursue their plans and assist them with tailored financing products,” says Velibor Marjanovic, member of KfW Ipex-Bank’s management board.

“As an economically strong and densely populated country with around 50 million inhabitants and numerous German and European trading partners alongside a well-developed financing market, Colombia represents the ideal location to do this,” he adds.

DEG’s Colombian portfolio currently totals around €66mn, the bank says, and it is eyeing further opportunities for financing and advising private companies from various sectors.

“We see great potential for this in the region, especially in the energy sector, with the production of green electricity,” says Roland Siller, chair of the DEG management board. “As a partner to private companies, we want to promote sustainable, successful investments in Colombia and the region with our representation in Bogotá.”

The additional location is a satellite of DEG’s Peruvian office in Lima and will act as a contact point for infrastructure and energy companies from the Andean region and Central America.

It will develop the work currently being carried out by Thomas Cremer, who has been a local representative since 2020 with responsibility for project financing and equity investment business in Latin America.